There are no people to whom we owe a greater debt of gratitude than our parents. If not for them we would not exist. They tended to us as children; fed us; drove soccer practice – they raised us into becoming the person we are. Even if a person feels like his parents did not do a great job, the Torah mandates that a child respects and honors them. In this podcast we outline the parameters of this mitzvah.
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The final Judge to lead the people in the Book of Judges was the most unique one of them all – a mighty warrior who single-handedly faced a formidable enemy, a controversial man with a miraculous beginning and a tragic end – Samson the Mighty. During this nearly 400 year history, the nation did not have the centralized authority of a king, and was in effect self-governed, ruled by God and punished by Him. When they adhered to Torah, their enemies vanished as if by divine edict, when they strayed, their enemies arose to persecute them as a function of divine chastisement. The role of the Judges was to nudge the people back to their fidelity to God, but not to compel or enforce as a monarch. This system worked nearly flawlessly for the duration of the Era of the Judges. The Book of Judges ends with two glaring exceptions; two tragic instances where the nation would have greatly benefited from a strong centralized authority of a king.
Today YOU can support the thousands of Jewish Houstonians who learn and get inspired at TORCH Torah classes every year!
Today YOU can support the 18 Houston area Congregations spanning from The Woodlands to Clear Lake and from Cypress to Sugar Land who have weekly TORCH Shalhevet Classes!
Today YOU can help us send local Young Jewish Professionals and students on life-changing trips to Israel!
Today YOU can partner with us in the largest and most downloaded Jewish Podcast Network (The Jewish History Podcast, This Jewish Life, The Parsha Podcast, TORAH 101, Eternal Ethics)!
Today the Future of Jewish vibrancy is in YOUR hands!
Today YOU can Connect Jews and Judaism!
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Rabbi Elazar from Modi’in shares a list of five very different things that disqualify its doer from Olam Haba. What is the connection between these five things and why would one who does them be locked out of eternity?
Support TORCH and The Parsha Podcast TODAY during our only annual fundraiser.
https://www.charidy.com/torch/parsha
EVERY DONATION IS QUADRUPLED
Today, TORCH needs your help!!
Today YOU can support the thousands of Jewish Houstonians who learn and get inspired at TORCH Torah classes every year!
Today YOU can support the 18 Houston area Congregations spanning from The Woodlands to Clear Lake and from Cypress to Sugar Land who have weekly TORCH Shalhevet Classes!
Today YOU can help us send local Young Jewish Professionals and students on life-changing trips to Israel!
Today YOU can partner with us in the largest and most downloaded Jewish Podcast Network (The Jewish History Podcast, This Jewish Life, The Parsha Podcast, TORAH 101, Eternal Ethics)!
Today the Future of Jewish vibrancy is in YOUR hands!
Today YOU can Connect Jews and Judaism!
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A very large percentage of Torah is dedicated to the laws of purity and impurity. Parshas Tazria deals exclusively with these laws, first with respect to the impurity of a new mother, and second with the impurity of tzaraas a skin disease that comes as a result of sin. What is purity and impurity and how can we make these difficult concepts more relevant to modern life.
After months of preparation and building, and a week of inauguration, the nation was anticipating the climax of the Tabernacle experience: When God finally rested His Presence upon the people’s handiwork. On the eighth day the Tabernacle was erected for good, and a Heavenly fire consumed the various sacrifices offered upon the Altar and the nation experienced the euphoria and intense trepidation of having God in their midst. But a second divine fire marred the joy when Aaron’s two sons were consumed for bringing a foreign and improper offering.
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The Parsha Podcast is dedicated by my dear friend Mike Fisher, in loving memory of his mother Doris, Breindl bat Yosef v’ Miriam. May her soul be elevated in Heaven!
Shabbos is a mitzvah that is equal to all 613 mitzvos combined. It is a the fountain of blessing; the epicenter of the week; it is vitally important for the Jewish soul. Therefore we are commanded to remember it and acknowledge it in attention-catching ways at its commencement and conclusion.
In continuation of the themes of last week, Parshas Tzav details the procedures of processing many of the sacrifices enumerated in Parshas Vayikra, teaches us about new sacrifices, and we read about the seven days of inauguration of the Tabernacle.
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The Parsha Podcast is dedicated in merit of the speedy recovery of Amy bat Devorah, a dear friend and supporter of TORCH.
The festival of Purim commemorates the story of salvation that our nation experienced in Persia more than two thousand years ago. Haman the heir of Amaleik schemed a plot to eradicate the entire Jewish people in one randomly selected day, the 13th day of Adar. But the Almighty would have none of it. In His kindness He orchestrated a series of events, told to us in the Book of Esther, that foiled Haman’s plot and led to our nation’s spiritual renaissance, the effects of which still reverberate today. In this podcast we retell the Purim story and delve into its themes to make our observance of the holiday ever more meaningful.
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This podcast is sponsored in loving memory of Walter Heller, beloved father of my dear personal friend and TORCH supporter, Stephen Heller.
The clearest, most universally accepted articulation of the Principles of Jewish Belief are the Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of Faith. This list of Thirteen Principles were codified in his commentary on Mishnah in the introduction to Chapter 10 of the book of Sanhedrin; they were also added into Jewish Liturgy in the Ani Maamin and Yigdal prayers. Though the canonization of these 13 Principles were initially contested, they have not been for many, many centuries, and therefore we can say that the universal Principles of Faith are these thirteen. In this first episode on the Principles of Jewish Faith we briefly outline the structure of the 13 Principles and dig into the First Principle – the belief in God.